2024 Ford Ranger: What's It Like to Live With?
We've purchased a brand-new Ford Ranger for a 20,000-mile test
| Miles Driven: | Average MPG: |
| 14,244 | 18.5 |
Latest Highlights
- We bought a 2024 Ford Ranger
- The fully redesigned midsize truck faces tough competition
- We've got 20,000 miles to see if Ford can fix the issues that plagued the last Ranger
- Fuel economy has been disappointing so far
What do you want to know about?
What We Got And Why
• Our test vehicle: 2024 Ford Ranger SuperCrew 4x4 Lariat
• Base MSRP: $45,225
• MSRP as tested: $50,580
• What we paid: $50,580
Let's face it: The previous-generation Ford Ranger was very long in the tooth. While it was only on sale in the U.S. for the 2019 through 2023 model years, the last Ranger was sold in other markets from 2013 — meaning it was a solid 10 years old by the time a new model finally made it to our shores — and it wasn't even designed with the American market in mind.
For 2024, though, the Ranger has finally gotten the redesign it so desperately needed, bringing updated tech, a nicer cabin, and modern styling to the lineup. So, naturally, we've added a top-trim Lariat to our long-term test fleet. Over the next year and 20,000 miles, we'll be putting the Ranger through its paces.
What did we get?
Aside from the hotted-up Raptor, our 2024 Lariat is the highest trim Ranger you can buy. The Lariat — which starts at $45,225, including destination charges, in 2WD — comes standard with just about every feature you could want: To name a few, we've got heated leather seats, Ford's latest driver assist systems (though BlueCruise hands-free driving is unavailable), a bangin' Bang & Olufsen sound system, and a 12-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
In addition to the Lariat's standard kit, we ponied up $3,485 for four-wheel-drive (rear-wheel-drive is standard), and topped it off with the $1,295 FX4 Off-Road package, which adds features like a dedicated off-road screen, upgraded suspension, all-terrain tires, and an electronic-locking rear differential. All in, after dealer fees, we paid $50,580 for our truck.
The one thing we didn't opt for? The Ranger's upgraded 2.7L EcoBoost V6, which wasn't yet available at the time of our purchase. Instead, our Ranger has the base 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that's carried over from the previous generation and makes a healthy 270 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque.
Why did we get It?
The midsize truck segment is hotter than ever, with its three biggest players — the Toyota Tacoma, Chevy Colorado and Ford Ranger — all receiving major redesigns within the last year. That, combined with how dated the previous model was, made it only natural to add a new Ranger to our fleet.
We opted for the top-trim Lariat with the FX4 package for comparison's sake, as our long-term 2023 Chevy Colorado is a loaded Z71 model. We wanted to ensure the two trucks were as closely matched as possible ... ya know, for research purposes.
Edmunds purchased this vehicle for the purpose of evaluation.
Average lifetime mpg: 18.5
EPA mpg rating: 22 combined ( 20 city / 24 highway )
Best fill mpg: 20.8
Best range (miles): 476.8
Current odometer: 14,244
Fuel economy has been disappointing so far
"We bought a Ford Ranger with an off-road package that comes with giant, knobby tires. So, like our Ford Bronco, fuel economy is going to be impacted. We're just about averaging 20 mpg in combined driving over our first 1,000 miles, which doesn't match the 22 mpg estimated by the EPA but makes sense given our particular package." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
"Fuel economy has not been great, at least not during the two or so weeks I was driving the Ranger. The turbocharged four-cylinder engine is EPA-rated at 22 mpg combined, but I never saw that; the closest was about 21 mpg after a prolonged stint of highway driving. In mixed driving I was getting somewhere around 18 mpg.
"As an experiment, I ran the Ranger in its Economy mode and … it didn't help. Fuel economy seemed to improved a little bit, climbing to around 19 mpg in mixed driving, but that's still pretty far off. What's puzzling is that the F-150 Hybrid, a significantly larger, heavier and more powerful vehicle, easily manages to get into the low 20s. That's not great if you're comparing it to a Prius, but it's not bad at all for a full-size truck that's second only to the Raptor in horsepower in Ford's lineup. Like so many EcoBoost engines, the Ranger is big on 'Boost,' but not so big on 'Eco.'" — Keith Buglewicz, managing editor
And we aren't crazy about its range
"Our Ranger's range is not so great. Even on long highway drives, I've found that I can't make it more than 380 miles or so before I need to stop and fill up. Based on our testing data, this isn't significantly different than what we're getting from our Chevy Colorado and Toyota Tacoma test trucks. Still, I'm pretty I could make it past 400 miles on a single tank with a little effort in those vehicles." — Brent Romans, senior manager, written content
That escalated quickly
"I was playing chicken with the remaining range in the Ranger, but that truck absolutely called my bluff. At about 1 mile left a message popped up on the infotainment saying YOU DO NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT RANGE REMAINING TO REACH THE NEAREST GAS STATION, PLEASE MAKE PREPARATIONS TO PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD or something to that effect. It scared the hell out of me and my wife. Of course, there was enough range to make it to the nearest gas station. That was just a pretty big escalation.
"I mean, come on, everybody knows there's a little bit of gas in reserve after the gauge hits empty, right?" — Will Kaufman, manager, video
2024 Ford Ranger: Maintenance
All maintenance details about our Ford Ranger live here.
Maintenance Summary
| Total routine maintenance costs | $209.83 |
| Additional maintenance costs | |
| Warranty repairs | |
| Non-warranty repairs | |
| Scheduled dealer visits | 1 |
| Unscheduled dealer visits | |
| Days out of service | |
| Breakdowns stranding driver | |
| Total body repair costs |
Our Ranger got its first oil change
"I took the Ranger in for its first service. We've got nearly 9,800 miles on the odometer, so this is its 10,000-mile service. It's pretty straightforward: oil change, filter change, tire rotation and balancing along with an inspection. That set us back $209.83 at Citrus Ford in Ontario, California.
"I made an appointment online, arrived on time at 7:30 a.m., and was in and out of the dealership in an hour and a half. That's a bit longer than I'd prefer given I got in early and had an appointment, but that's a minor quibble." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
Low-speed driving is a chore in the Ranger
"The Ford Ranger gets up to speed pretty quickly for a midsize truck, but it's an absolute slog at low speeds. To make matters worse, the stop-start system feels like it was imported from 2009. The engine takes too long to restart when the light turns green and it shakes the truck a bit when it kicks back on. When you're already at highway speed, it's great, but it's a bit frustrating around city streets." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
Turning off auto hold helps
"I read Jake's comment about our Ranger's engine stop-start feature being slow and rough to restart the engine after you've been at a stoplight. I partially agree, though I think it's more to do with settings that might have been active when Jake drove it rather than any actual issue with the stop-start feature.
"Here's what I noticed: If the Ranger's auto hold feature is turned on — this is where the truck won't creep forward if you lift off the brake when at a complete stop — with the stop-start also engaged, the Ranger is indeed annoyingly slow to get moving while at stoplights. You lift off the gas and first nothing happens because auto hold is engaged. The engine is off too. So when you press on the gas to get moving forward, the truck has to both release the brakes AND start the engine. This takes too long. The key is to disable auto hold. Having done that, I found the Ranger's stop-start feature to operate reasonably well." — Brent Romans, senior manager, written content
Quickest of the midsize trucks
"I like our Ranger's power. Mash the gas and it moves out with authority. In our testing, it needed 6.7 seconds to accelerate from zero to 60 mph. That's the quickest time out of any of the current batch of midsize trucks. The automatic transmission shifts smoothly and quickly too." — Brent Romans, senior manager, written content
How does the Ranger drive?
"But perhaps my least favorite thing about the Ranger is the way it goes down a road. Maybe it's because we've paired the Lariat model with the FX4 off-road pack, but the way it bounds around and never seems to find its footing — in addition to being crashy over big bumps and the heavy nosedive under braking — makes this truck feel older than it is. My guess is a Ranger without the off-road pack would be better to drive, but I haven't been able to sample one of those yet. I much prefer both our Tacoma and Colorado in this area. Both have firmer rides, but that gives them both a level of body control that is nonexistent here (and yes, they both have their respective off-road packs equipped as well)." — Nick Yekikian, news editor
"The transmission on the Ranger is a bit of a mixed bag. It downshifts quickly, and the shifts for the most part are smooth once you're moving, although the 1-2 shift is usually noticeable from a dead stop. When it's cold, however, the transmission becomes very reluctant to upshift. Even at gentle throttle when cold — and I'm talking 'California cold,' which is in the high 40s — the transmission will stay in first and second gears for a long time, sometimes until 4,000 rpm before shifting. This isn't send-it-back bad, but it is unusual. Shifting overall when cold gets harsher as well. In fairness, it all clears up after a couple minutes once the transmission is warmed up." — Keith Buglewicz, managing editor
Will Kaufman does not like the Ford Ranger's headrests
"Why, Ford? Why with the headrests? I know you make tilting headrests. I appreciate your tilting headrests. But in this fifty-thousand-dollar truck, I just get fixed headrests that are so aggressive they give me neck strain. I know everybody is a different shape, but for me the headrests on their own are a deal-breaker for the truck as a whole. I couldn't live with the Ranger." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
"Ford has made some of the worst headrests in the game over the years. The Flex's were particularly egregious. I don't think the Ranger headrests are that bad, but they're aggressive and just a little too firm for how far forward they protrude. Big thumbs-down from me." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
"I really, really hate these headrests. They're aggressive and hard, so I wind up leaning the seat back uncomfortably far to save my neck and the back of my skull. It got me thinking ... the best seats Ford makes are the F-150 seats, so what would it take to fit those into a midsize truck? That might be the ultimate pickup if they could ever figure it out." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
Thankfully for Will, he's not alone
"I agree with my co-worker Will regarding our Ranger's front head restraints. They are tilted forward too much. It's as if Ford designed them to tilt forward to be suitable for people with poor, hunched-over posture. Which, if we're being honest, is probably a lot of Americans these days. I've found them to be OK for driving around town but on longer drives I get uncomfortable because my head and neck are pushed too far forward by the restraint." — Brent Romans, senior manager, written content
Same with the seats
"I found the Ranger composed over bumpy highways (the 99 in California, in this case), but both the seats and headrests were quite uncomfortable over a long drive. Like Will, this would be a complete deal-breaker for me." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
"That said, I prefer these seats to those in our long-term Tacoma. I think I'd still prefer to do a long drive in the Tacoma over the Ranger, but the margins are narrow." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
How about rear seat comfort?
"During its time with me, I used the Ranger as the vast majority of people likely will: as a day-to-day city driver. One of its duties involved carrying some visiting family members in the rear seat. For the record, I don't find the rear seat particularly comfortable, but I'm also 6 feet 2 inches tall on a good day, so my legs and head are both cramped during the self-behind-self test.
"However, my sister and her husband are both shorter than me, and they were comfortable enough. There was decent legroom for both of them, and even headroom was fine. However, both noted the lack of storage space. Cupholders are only available in the fold-down armrest between the seats, and the door pockets are also on the small side. At least there are seatback pockets and USB charging ports. Also, this was all around-town type stuff, I wonder if they'd feel the same after multiple hours in the rear seat." — Keith Buglewicz, managing editor
Some driver aids are very sensitive
"The rear automatic emergency braking system in the Ranger is VERY sensitive. It slams on the brakes when I'm 2-plus feet away from even coming close to bumping into something. Very jarring and aggressive." — Ryan Greger, social media content strategist
"This is a minor complaint, but I hate that the seat-belt warning screen stays up when the Ranger is in park. I'm allowed to listen to podcasts in a parking lot with my seat belt off! Get off my back!" — Jake Sundstrom, editor
"There are lots of things I like about the Ranger, but one area for improvement is the lane keeping assistance. Specifically, the sensitivity of the system detecting hands on the steering wheel. I'll have the system on, hands on the wheel, but invariably if I'm driving in a straight line for a while, a warning to keep my hands on the wheel appears. It doesn't matter if I have one hand or both hands on the wheel. Nor does it matter if they're at the 10 and 2, 9 and 3, or even 7 and 4 o' clock positions.
"Getting rid of the warning means a quick jiggle of the steering wheel, and in fairness other automakers have a similar issue from time to time. Broadly speaking, the detection is looking for torque on the steering wheel, but Ford's system — I've noticed it on other Fords — seems to be, well, a little heavy-handed in its calibration. For me it becomes a disincentive to use the various advanced driver assist systems on the truck, or at the very least, to shut off the lane keeping assistance function." — Keith Buglewicz, managing editor
And not all of us are sold on the Ranger's big touchscreen
"Despite my best efforts I cannot jive with this Ranger. The first thing I can’t stand is the tech stack. I’ve said it about our Mach-E, and I’m sticking to it here — Ford’s budget iPad integration is still a long way from finished. It too frequently takes too long to respond to prompts (say after a startup or, weirdly, when it’s very hot outside). Apple CarPlay failed to work on multiple occasions over the course of just three days — or it would load, but no audio from any media player (or audio for phone calls) would come through. Thankfully, unlike in the Mach-E, there are physical climate controls, something I do have to give it a certain amount of credit for." — Nick Yekikian, news editor
Is our gear shifter haunted? (No)
"I always appreciate a shifter that automatically puts itself into park if you forget to before turning off the engine — instead of freaking out and requiring you to restart the vehicle, cough, FCA, cough — but it's a little uncanny to watch the shifter shift itself multiple positions. Cool, but a bit spooky the first time you see it." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
The Ranger is noticeably quieter than rival trucks
"I've spent a decent amount of time in the three midsize pickups we currently have in our long-term fleet. All three are really good, so picking a favorite comes down to little differences. One thing that really stands out in the Ranger is just how quiet it is, especially at idle. There's very little engine noise unless you're flooring it, and wind and road noise seems reasonably in check too. The last Ranger was pretty lackluster in most areas, but this new one feels like a scaled-down F-150. Smaller but not necessarily lesser." — Reese Counts, vehicle test editor
Getting the car seat in? No problem. Getting it out? Well ...
"For kids' car seats, a lot of trucks use fabric loops for upper anchors. The Ranger is one of the few that has an upper anchor hidden behind the seatback. You release the rear seatback, fold it forward a bit, and voilà! There's an anchor point attached to the rear bulkhead. That's all fine and dandy, except if you really snug down that strap it's super, super tough to get the latch free again. The big ol' car seat and the tension on the strap prevent you from moving the seatback down far enough to really work your arm and hand into the space and loosen the strap enough to get the clip free.
"I spent a little more than five minutes today just wrestling with that one clip. So, while that seems like a much safer execution of an upper anchor than the stupid cloth straps (that are terrible and I hate them in every truck I find them in), it's also annoying if you live the kind of life where you're constantly switching your kid's 30-pound car seat between cars." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
When is a door not a door? When it's ajar
"You might remember that it was often challenging to completely close the doors on the Rivian R1T without exerting a lot of force. Well, the Ranger has a similar problem. While the Rivian doors feel too light to be effective, the Ranger's doors feel, well, normal. So, what's the issue? It appears that the latching mechanism is the weak spot here; it was common in the week I had with the truck to close the door only to find it was slightly ajar." — Jake Sundstrom, editor
"You have to slam everything in this truck. The doors require a slam otherwise the truck thinks they're open, and if you fold the rear seatbacks down, you have to REALLY slam them to get them to latch back to the wall of the cabin. The seatbacks require such a hard slam that I was legit worried I'd break the truck." — Steven Ewing, director, editorial content
"I'm having an issue with our Ranger that's oddly similar to one we've had with our Rivian: The doors are strangely difficult to close all the way — you really have to pull hard to get them to latch properly. A deal-breaker, no, but a bit annoying on a daily basis." — Ryan Greger, social media content strategist
"I agree with my co-workers that one needs to use an unusually firm push or tug to fully close our Ranger's doors. Otherwise, they end up slightly ajar and the truck gives you a warning in the instrument panel. The question is whether it's a flaw specific to our truck or if every Ranger is like this. Without a dealer visit, it's hard to say.
"I did a search of Ranger forums for this issue and didn't come up with much. But I did try one owner's suggestion of slightly opening a window to help relieve air pressure as you close the doors. The hard-to-close issue might be because of built-up air pressure, and having an open window lets the air out more easily. True enough, the doors close more easily with a window or two opened. But obviously this is more of a 'that's interesting' observation rather than an always helpful work-around." — Brent Romans, senior manager, written content
"Why oh why do the back doors refuse to close unless you absolutely slam them? I can't recall how many times I've attempted to get something from the back and closed the door with a normal amount of force, only to realize it didn't shut. Doors should not be this irritating to operate." — Nick Yekikian, news editor
"The driver-side door takes a bit more force to close than I expect. Little thing, but I find myself re-closing it about 20% of the time after I get in the truck." — Will Kaufman, manager, video
One editor shares his thoughts on the Ranger
"Overall the Ranger was great! Very smooth ride and power, even while carrying cargo in the bed helping someone move. The interior and the seats were comfortable enough, always love dual climate control, and even more so the physical knobs it has for those controls.
"The Apple Car Play did randomly cut out a few times but worked well 99% of the time.
"The only two real complaints I have are that I hate the gear shifter and the doors basically have to be slammed shut in order to close.
"First, the gear shifter is an odd shape, almost like a computer mouse, and it while it feels OK to rest your hand on, it's a pain to actually shift. Your hand has to contort and grip the front button like a claw while trying to move the shifter, and it's really hard to tell when you're in the correct gear. All of this is made worse by the fact that trying to use your thumb will hit the manual selection buttons on the side of the shifter. Terrible.
"Finally, I know it is a rugged and off-road trim package, but you really have to close the doors quite hard, and usually harder than you think, for them to actually close properly. The amount of 'door open' messages I received from the truck over one weekend was astounding." — David Lucio, post production coordinator
The remote start feature is great when it's hot out
"This is a little thing but I love the remote start feature on our Ranger. I'm writing this during the heat wave of July 2024 and where I live it's consistently been highs around 110 degrees. With the Ranger parked in my driveway, its cabin becomes an oven. But all I have to do is double press the remote start button and it fires up the truck and starts the A/C to start cooling down the cabin before I get in to drive. A lot of other Ford vehicles have this feature too (like our long-term Ford Bronco!)." — Brent Romans, senior manager, written content
At least one editor isn't a fan of the Ranger's looks
"The new Ranger's styling isn't my favorite. There's nothing that's particularly memorable about it. In particular, the front end's headlights and grille just look plain. The Ranger looks a bit like a baby F-150, but softer. That seems like an OK idea as a design brief but out on the street it just looks bland. With all of the top midsize trucks being so similar in capability, I think I'd likely pick a Toyota Tacoma or GMC Canyon to get their more appealing styling." — Brent Romans, senior manager, written content